


Way Down We Go

by skyes



Series: If you were Oz [3]
Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: M/M, Mage AU, expect that smut in the next chap will you, oh guys, we are soooo getting there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-14 19:14:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11214495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyes/pseuds/skyes
Summary: Tim has to deal with his life finally. And he can't run anymore. Not from his friends. Not from his family. Not from his destiny.





	Way Down We Go

**Author's Note:**

> this, again, took me so freaking long, I'm sorry. We are far from the end, and I promise I'll deliver the next part sooner ;; thanks for sticking with me, though.
> 
> also. we are not leaving the song titles behind, sorry. (this one is from kaleo).
> 
> aaaaand, i finally made a twitter where we can chat, and you can shoot your questions :) hit me up! https://twitter.com/skyestale
> 
> //forgive my mistakes as always please//

“Tim… Tim, wake up buddy, you’re having a nightmare.”

The touch on his shoulder was gentle and caring, he knew it so well, it kind of ached somewhere in his ribcage. All the years he spent with Noah in the same room, on the same classes, all of those times were just such a gigantic part of his existence now, he just couldn’t. The way the other put his long bony fingers on his arm, the tone he used to make sure Tim has a strong, steady anchor that could guide him back to reality, without making him scared for his life, or doubtful of the truth- they were all familiar.

Tim gasped as he found his way back to the here and now. He came up for air as someone who held their breath back way too long. When his eyes found Noah, he smiled, shakily and unsure, but still. Noah smiled back and sit down, on the edge of the bed, and patted one of Tim’s legs.

“You were having a dream, or…?” he asked, and Tim didn’t needed him to elaborate.

“It was a vision,” he said, voice rough, so he needed to clear his throat.

“Of course,” Noah sighed, and shook his head.

Tim had been having visions since his second year in Purefly. It wasn’t an uncommon thing, really. Many of the mages had developed some kind of unique talent as the years they spent with studying spells went by. Some of them were spectacular: spells that didn’t need words or runes, with colors and sparkles all over the place; magical vessels and weapons that materialized out of thin air. But there were also silent ones, like Tim’s. Visions. Really accurate, vivid visions. And- as unfortunate as Tim was- they were always,  _ always  _ telling bad tales.

At first, there were only the feelings. He couldn’t quite wrap his mind around them, he just had this ill feeling coming from really, really deep. And then slowly he always started to remember the pictures, then whole scenes, then it all came together to this living, movie like dream-

And he hated it.

And Noah probably hated them even more.

“Did you see anything to go by? A place maybe, a person?”

“No, it’s just the feeling still,” Tim sighed, then closed his eyes to collect himself and his thoughts that felt like being scattered all around him.

Tim needed a couple of minutes to come out of the sluggish state sleep and the vision put him into, and then he could finally sit up and see the huge backpack Noah already prepared for departure.

“You leaving already?” he asked and couldn’t help the sadness crawling on him. He was so used to being close to Noah, he almost went crazy in those first days in Gotham, and in this last week it was so good to live together again, not being forced to hide the small magic he was using in his everyday life like when his family was coming over. 

“Yeah. There’s some Hopkinson business waiting for me actually,” Noah shrugged, then, “And I also have this feeling that I am not welcome in your city,” he laughed and he almost could hide the sourness of the statement. Tim narrowed his eyes.

“Noah…” he started, but his friend just shook his head, and for a moment he squeezed Tim’s hand that was close to his.

“Don’t you worry about it Timmy. You told me enough about your family so I wasn’t expecting a huge welcome party or anything. To be fair, if my hometown had this many freaks, we wouldn’t be that friendly either,” Noah shrugged, then slowly rose up from the bed. He was chill as always, but it didn’t mean that Tim wasn’t still furious with Bruce. No metas, and apparently no mages either, even though Noah didn’t have a masked persona, didn’t have  _ anything.  _ He was just visiting Tim, his  _ friend,  _ and sometimes Tim wondered if that word was really so unfamiliar to Bruce, as he wanted to sell it.

“It’s not alright,” he said, and didn’t pay attention of Noah’s waving in dismissal. 

“Get dressed and walk me to the station instead?” he offered, and Tim breathed out, long and deep, then did as he was told. 

The chilly October air was almost as good as a coffee so early in the morning, and Tim really wanted to have a double or maybe triple Americano, or a latte, but since he arrived back to Gotham, he realized that his really worrisome coffee drinking habits were coming back, and he wanted to keep at least  _ some  _ of the good things that happened to him in Purefly. However, he really felt like not drinking way too much coffee wasn’t going to be one of those things.

He didn’t ask Noah which train he was taking, it didn’t matter anyway. Someone with magical power as strong as Noah’s, wasn’t really bound by schedules and directions. He only needed a vehicle and from there on he could go anywhere he wanted to.

Tim didn’t want to say good bye, but he had to, so he silently pulled Noah in a tight embrace, and murmured a short  _ will miss you  _ in his ears, then let the younger go. Before the other mage stepped on the train however, he looked back over his shoulders.

“Hey, Timmy,” he started, “I know you still want be a hero, so be one. This may be Gotham, but you ain’t the same Tim Drake anymore, so if you don’t want to, you don’t have to play by their rules, you know that, right? You earned your magic. So use it.”

The train’s doors were closing, and Tim had missed his chance to answer, so he just waved as Noah went away, jaw clenched tight.

Yes. He wanted to be a hero. He wanted to be Hermes. 

And he will be.

But before that he still had a couple of really important things to take care of. It was time to stop running away from his  _ other  _ friends, the Titans, Bart and Kon and Gar, and the girls. He came back and he liked thinking that he had changed while he was away, but at the end of the day, it looks like he was the same coward he had always been.

He hadn’t set up a meeting with anyone, if it wasn’t necessary. He knew Steph wanted to talk, he had seen it on her more than once, but the girl was really considerate, she didn’t let it slip, she gave Tim room, and he appreciated it really. But giving him room meant that there wasn’t pressure, he could hide and escape of them anytime he wanted.

It was time to grow up, for real this time. To leave Purefly behind. This was Gotham, and unlike magic, the rules here he knew. The people here he knew. Himself here- he wasn’t that sure about that anymore. 

\--

“What’s up with ya, man?” 

Damian blinked. It was hard to focus, and when Colin’s face came in  _ really fucking close,  _ he jerked back out of pure instinct. It was one of those nights when his father let Robin and Abuse to be on the streets together, and Damian usually really loved these nights, this time however-

He was scratching one of his wrists, chasing a phantom itch for weeks now, and he tried to not think of the fact that this itch was, for some reason, on the same place where Drake had his tattoo, or whatever that was. 

“Nothing, it is just…” he trailed off, looking away, and it was so not Damian.

“Sure. So I guess it has absolutely nothing to do with that brother of yours, right?”

Damian narrowed his eyes as he looked up at Colin.  _ No,  _ it had nothing to do with Tim, or his absence from family meetings or his not real presence in the city. It had nothing to do with the fact, that Damian missed him. Missed him from the rooftops now that he was here, he was back, missed him now maybe more than ever. 

How come that Tim Drake was back, but Red Robin they couldn’t see anymore? It was just… fucked up. In Damian’s mind, it was just not right. Not that he could say that out loud, he couldn’t really. And he wasn’t about to force Tim into something he seemingly left behind. But between the secured walls of his head, the thoughts were still there and he couldn’t pretend they weren’t.  

“Hey, heads up boys, robbery two streets down. You up for it?” Steph’s voice came in their comms, and Damian sighed, with his eyes searching for Colin’s. The older boy shrugged, so Damian touched the piece in his ear shortly and said, “We’re on it, Spoiler.”

It was easy not to think about anything while he was flying from one rooftop to another, down on the street he could hear Colin’s- Abuse’s heavy footsteps echoing. It was a familiar scenario, one he knew in his bones. And, sadly, so was the bank robbery with masked fools who will meet some heavy fists and tough boots tonight, too.

Damian just couldn’t understand. Why did they never learn the lesson?

He jumped, landing perfectly, right next to Colin, ready to throw himself into a fight, when he caught a glimpse of something heavy, white, brown and gold.

It wasn’t Red Robin. It wasn’t even a bird despite the long, warm brown feathers on his back. Damian wasn’t even sure about if he was looking at a man,  _ even though  _ he knew exactly who it was in front of his eyes.  _ It _ looked like something eternal, something more than a human, something almost like a god from ancient tales. Something divine and endless and  _ beautiful,  _ and Damian forgot how he was supposed to breathe.

Tim wasn’t wearing the most practical outfit for hunting. His white buttonless, long shirt was heavy looking and spotless, something not really suited for the dirt of Gotham, and although Damian couldn’t see armory, he somehow knew that no bullets could tear that material apart. His forearms and shins were covered with hard dark leather and on his wrists he saw golden, tinkling bracelets that in the end somehow  _ didn’t look like gold  _ at all. He was wearing leather pants and black combat boots, and he looked- 

He looked so good. 

And his feathers-

They started from the back of his neck, and Damian for a moment thought they were part of his suit but no. They were part of  _ him _ , beautiful and real, down to his spine and shoulder blades, the older man’s skin free from clothes there. How, Damian couldn’t tell, so he thought it must have been magic.

Then he realized that,  _ yes, it  _ must  _ have been magic,  _ and the little feathers were right behind his ears, too, silver and golden there.

“Hey, Dames,” Colin muttered, “your lungs need air.” But what _ ever  _ the older boy said, he looked just as awestruck as Damian. 

Damian sucked in a big gulp of air, realized only  _ then  _ how much he needed it. He wanted to say something,  _ anything,  _ but Tim was faster, a handsome, half-smile on his lips.

“You’re late guys. I’ll handle this.”

And without wasting any more words, he touched the not-gold bracelets on his wrists and they become liquid fire and heated metal, deadly weapons, and he started to move so fast… It was inhuman, even though it wasn’t on speedster level, but the hostiles definitely couldn’t follow him at all. Damian only blinked a handful of times before it was all over, rune signs’ remains calmly glowing in the air as a reminder of Tim powers. When did he have the time to cast them, Damian had no idea.

“What- ” Damian started, but Tim only shook his head.

“It’s my city, too. And I’m back.”

“What about Red Robin?”

“The name is Hermes. Get used to it.”

And with that, he just… disappeared. 

“What in the seven hells?” gawked Colin, and Damian could only share the reaction. “I mean, was he always  _ that  _ hot?”

Damian frowned and lightly hit Colin’s shoulder. 

“Idiot.”

“Okay, yeah, but- wow. I mean. He really looked good and I don’t mean the outfit or face, tho that was like on oh my god level, too. But his moves? His abilities? Is he a meta? Or what’s up with the wings?”

“No,” Damian shook his head. “No, he is Oz. He is the great wizard.” 

He needed a good minute until he was able to turn his head and gaze away from the spot where Tim was standing before his disappearance. 

Oz was a cheater and Damian couldn’t help but think that the statement was still true. Tim was Oz. Who he was cheating, though… that was a whole other question.

\--

It was already four in the morning when he got back to his apartment. Tim exhaled a long breath as soon as the door was closed behind this back. He did a good job with ignoring Bruce’s calls all night, he started to call him right after his little… intervention by the bank, but Tim was content with not answering them, or like dealing with them  _ at all.  _ But he was home now, and he couldn’t run away anymore, so after he changed back his magical outfit to his regular clothes - sweatpants and an old tee he had stolen from Noah - he headed back to his living room.

He had no idea how could  _ someone  _ sneak up on him without him noticing it, but he practically hadn’t even crossed the doorstep, a palm has connected to his face rather painfully.

“Aw-”

But that was as far as he could get in that sentence before-

“You fucking asshole! You know I don’t fucking care how much space you  _ need  _ and how much of that Kon and Bart are willing to  _ give  _ you, but I’m not a patient person and you’re exceeded all of  the time limits  _ I  _ was willing to give you. So, start talking. Now.”

Tim had to blink a couple of times until the pain disappeared, then flipped the lights on, so he could really see his visitor. A visitor all too familiar with the beautiful, long, blonde locks, and the piercing blue eyes. Tim licked his lips.

“Hey, Cassie. Long time no see.”

“You bet,” the young woman folded her arms in front of her chest, and didn’t say anything else. Tim was thinking of offering her a seat, but as things were, it didn’t seem like a good idea.

“I, uh… I don’t know where to start. I’m sorry?” Tim said, his eyes wandering off, it was just too hard to look at Cassie and not feel like shit. He felt like shit ninety percent of the times anyway.

“You better be. I mean, seriously Tim. You were hurt, alright, but did you really think that the solution for that is to disappear  _ for seven funking years? _ ”

“I didn’t think… I didn’t think anything. I just wanted out,” Tim sighed. He didn’t say that there were nights, he wanted to die, that everything was just so hard on him. Damian, really, was just the drop that spilled the cup. And Tim, he really wasn’t thinking, just ran, because running was easy, running he could do. Staying to face the problems was the hard thing to do, and Tim was far weaker than he was given credit for. 

Cassie narrowed her eyes. Tim thought that maybe she could feel the things that remained unsaid, or at least some part of it. But, because she was Cassie, she didn’t press that matter, she tried something else instead.

“Why didn’t you contact us right away? I mean after you came back.”

“Come on, Cassie, I didn’t even plan to talk to my family for a couple of days, I’d just got… unlucky,” Tim laughed a short, bitter laugh. “I wanted to wait, wanted to come up with an actual explanation, but the things that happened to me are… strange. They cannot be easily explained, you see. And- Well, I’m a coward. You knew that anyway, didn't you?”

Cassie just raised an eyebrow, but didn’t open her mouth. Tim sighed, again, it was too early for this shit, he didn’t want talk about any of it, not right now, not just with Cassie with him. He rubbed the bridge of his nose before waving his hand signing Cassie to take a seat.

“Okay… we can talk some of it. But then you have to go and let me sleep. I promise I’ll visit you guys in the tower, but before that, I’ll still need time. Just a little bit.” 

Cassie started to say something, but Tim raised his hands to stop her.

“I know, Cassie. I know. But I’m not the same guy. If you are not willing to give,  _ I’ll take it. _ ”

Cassie knitted her brows but didn’t say another word. Tim wasn’t sure it’s because she knew Tim was telling the truth or she had some other reason, but it didn’t really matter either way. Tim started his story, he didn’t even count anymore how many times he had to tell it, or parts of it, and Cassie, because she was Cassie, listened.

“Well, guess it wasn’t a boring seven years, was it?” she asked, with the tiniest of smiles, and Tim thought that that was a good sign. 

“No, it definitely wasn’t,” he agreed.

“Alright. You have to come to the tower Tim, and I’m serious. I understand that this… is hard to handle, not just for you but for us as well, and to be quite honest with you, I look at you and I feel like I’m looking at a stranger. It’s… I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay Cassie. I mean. I did deserve that punch in the face, too,”

\--

People don’t… or rather can’t change overnight. And that was the exact reason why in the end Tim didn’t call Bruce back. When Cassie left his apartment it was already so late, that the sun started to come up over the horizon, and Tim really didn’t have the energy to talk about anything with anyone, let alone discussing his magical alter ego with his…  _ father.  _

That being said, he still did not expect Bruce to show up on his doorstep at 12 o’clock.

“We need to talk.”

No ‘Hi, Tim!’, no ‘How are you, Tim?’, just a plain, old  _ we need to talk,  _ on his dad voice. If anyone asked Tim, they really didn’t need to talk, though.

He didn’t say that out loud, instead he gave a tiny nod, and opened the door wider, to let the older man in. He wasn’t bothered by the fact that he only wore sweatpants and had harboured a serious bed hair. Bruce had seen him more disheveled many times before. 

“I don’t mind you being back in the business, Tim,” Bruce started once they were settled in the kitchen. He offered coffee, and Bruce nodded in agreement. 

“Well, I sure hoped so”, he said, and couldn’t quite hide the sarcasm in his voice. 

“But, it would have been nice of you to say something about changing your appearances. Or coming back, for the matter.” 

“I really don’t see, how my fashion choices are any of your concern.”

“You know it’s not really about that.”

“Of course I do,” he put down two mugs. “ If you want me to go back being Red Robin, I have bad news. It's not gonna happen. I gave up on being a Robin long time ago, and I don't plan on going back. And if you worry about my magic, I'm not gonna pretend I'm no mage either. I don't know if you can live with me being the way I am, but I'm not gonna change and I don't plan on leaving.” 

“I don't want you to leave. But I wish you were talking to me. To us.” Tim really didn’t want to see the genuine sadness on Bruce’s face, and he was pretty successful in it. He couldn’t have being weak. He needed to stand his ground if he wanted to be himself, if he wanted to keep everything he gained in Purefly.

“You gave the hard treatment to one of my best friends, Bruce, who didn’t even do  _ anything _ . He was a  _ tourist. _ I'm getting mixed signals about how you feel about this… thing. Me.”

“You disappear for seven years without a single word, then show up again, then go back to the streets, being someone we don’t know. I think it’s natural that I don't know what to make of it. There’s nothing mixed about it.”

Tim knew that there was truth in what Bruce was saying. He knew. And he missed his family, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go back and be one of them again. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to go back to the ways they operated. It was a weird sensation, because in so many ways he found himself in Purefly, but all of a sudden he felt like he lost his family, and couldn’t recognize the path he should’ve taken to get back to them. They were strangers, even more so than when they were still living under the same roof.  

“I know I was wrong. And I  _ am  _ sorry,” ha said, because he knew when to say sorry. “But that doesn’t change the past nor it changes the person I am right now. I want to be on the streets. And I want to be there on my terms.”

Bruce sipped his coffee.  

“I can’t let a mage go rogue on the street of Gotham.”

“ _ Rogue _ ? Bruce, you know me, I’m technically your  _ son _ , I’m not untrustable, I’m not a villain!” Tim wanted to stay calm, he didn’t plan on raising his voice, and look at him now. Bruce, however, remained unphased. Oh, how Tim hated him, when he was like this. He didn’t even say a word just looked up at Tim, who was still standing by the table, and when he couldn’t anymore, he hit the table. He felt so small, even if he stood higher than Bruce.

The stare-down was long, and Tim lost. 

“I want you to wear the comms, or we won’t treat you as an ally.”

“Well, isn’t that just great, Bruce? Good to know you haven’t changed the slightest.” 

Tim wanted to hurt him, but as per usual, he couldn’t read his face. He smacked his tongue, and swallowed the last of his coffee.

“I’m pretty tired after last night. I guess you will find the door yourself. Don’t you have a meeting or something? I don’t want you to make someone wait for my sake.”

Bruce nodded, and simply stood up, ready to leave. Tim went back to his bedroom, mostly because he wanted to show the older man, how he wasn’t afraid to show his bare back to him, how he wasn’t Bruce, how he still trusted him. It was a front he put up while his inside was trembling in hurt. 

He fell to his bed, and wanted to cry. When was the last time he cried? He couldn’t remember. He remembered, however, how much he loved Bruce, always, how he looked up to him, how he stayed for so long because of him, because  _ Bruce was his father _ , and now he was back and Bruce didn’t trust him, didn’t know what to say to him, what to make of him.

He wanted to believe the stories from the Bible with father and son, but simply couldn’t anymore.

This wasn’t how parents-children relationships worked. And that hurt Tim more than he wanted to admit. And more than he was ready for. 

\--

“Did you see him?” 

“Oh,  _ come on,  _ Dames!” Todd’s voice was impatient even over their comm links. “I’m pretty much sure that the little bird is sulking, If your father was his usual charming self, he probably feels betrayed and disappointed. Bruce does that to people, you see.”

“Tt.”

“Why are you so hooked on Timmy anyway? I thought you hated him.”

“I don’t hate Drake, Todd.”

“Good, because you don’t have the right. He, on the other hand…”

“This really is not something I want to talk about with you, Todd.”

“Awww, you sound adorable, demon spawn. It’s almost like you’re a normal teenager with a crush. Wait, are you crushing on Tim? ‘Cause…”

“I’m turning you off, Todd.”

_ Asshole,  _ Damian mumbled to himself. He wasn’t lying: this wasn’t a topic he wanted to discuss with any of his family, he wasn’t even ready to admit it to himself for real. Because now it was something real, Tim was close and reachable, not a daydream anymore.

He remembered of soft lips against his…

“Boo!”

He almost fell off of the rooftop he was sitting on. This so wasn’t like him, letting  _ anyone  _  to sneak up on him, Gods. The phantom of the hot breath was still tickling his ear, even though he was already far away from the ‘treat’. 

Speaking of treat by the way,  it was Drake, standing behind him and smirking like an idiot, in that new, unfamiliar and - if Damian wanted to be honest - fucking hot outfit of his.

“Were you waiting for me, little Robin?” The younger didn’t point out how he was taller, than the former Robin. He really wanted to, though.

Damian, in fact was waiting for Drake, but he couldn’t admit  _ that,  _ either. Luckily, he had just the perfect alibi. 

“Father thought that you would come out anyway, and trusted me with a comm link for you.”

“Isn’t that nice of him?”

“Sarcasm really does not fit you, Drake,” Damian said drily. “You shouldn’t be so stubborn.”

“‘s that so?”

Damian was unusually grateful for his mask. He doubted he could’ve holden Drake’s look otherwise. 

“Alright,” the older said, and Damian felt relieved till the little smirk in the corner of Tim’s mouth caught his eyes. “I’m taking it.”

“You are?”

“But in exchange you have to tell me why did you kiss me in the garden that night really, how about that, little Robin?” 

Damian really thought he was pretty good at following metahumans. He was pretty damn proud of his skills. But he didn’t know, how Tim appeared right in front of him, when he was standing meters away the second before. 

“I don’t know what you are talking about, Drake,” he was insanely proud of how indifferent he sounded.

“You don’t? Well, good luck then explaining Batman why I still don’t have a comm. Oh, and yeah. Good luck taking me down, too.”

“I’ll tell him the truth: you are being a stupid stubborn idiot.”

“Ah.”

Another, stare down contest went down between them, and it was really tiring for Damian to control his breathing, and his movements. It was always a challenge when it came to Tim Drake. He felt adrenalin running through his veins, looking into Tim’s icy blue orbs. One could only have so many problems, but he was weak against his beauty, and the fact that he had to hide it was feasting on his energy.

“Do you want to patrol together tonight?”

Damian didn’t gape, it was hard not to, though. He didn’t expect Drake to say something like that. Much less did he expect the soft voice he used, like he genuinely wanted to spend time with him, starting everything anew. Damian wasn’t about to say no to  _ that _ . He wanted redemption, and he wasn’t the kid anymore, who couldn’t allow himself to swallow his pride. 

_ Redemption,  _ right. 

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

They had a slow night. Through the link, Damian heard the girls taking care of a couple of attempted robberies, but nothing major. So they spent their time in a kind of pleasant silence. Damian hold back the questions he died to ask, and it seemed like Tim knew that and appreciated it.

“I didn’t know that you can be a mage without being born as one,” Tim said finally. They were sitting on the rooftop of a block, their legs hanging over the edge. The deepness, the long fall didn’t scare them, not in the slightest, and the unusual silence of Gotham was calming. Damian thought about how they’d never had a real conversation before, probably, and maybe Drake had the same thing on his mind.

“So it was pure luck? You finding that place?” he asked.

“If there’s something Purefly have taught me, it’s that there’s no ‘pure luck’. I found Purefly because I needed to find it, and I became a wizard, because I needed to become one.”

“Was it hard?”

“Sometimes yes. But other times it was the easiest thing I had ever done.”

“Did you talk about your name with the others?” Tim shook his head. “I think you should. Maybe we are not mages, but I think we can comprehend that it is a big thing what you have done, becoming a fully fledged mage, I mean,” Damian said quietly. “You should be proud Drake. We all lean on each other in this family, and I don’t necessarily think that it is a bad thing anymore. But you… you did that all alone. You should be proud,” he repeated. It looked like Drake, for once did not have a smart comeback, if anything he seemed a bit embarrassed, like someone who couldn’t take a compliment; and he probably really couldn’t.

Damian absentmindedly scratched the ever present itch on his wrist, and the movement got Drake’s eyes as well. Damian didn’t think much of it, but then he looked at Tim’s face, and it was pure shock, that he could see there, and the next thing he knew was Tim’s bony fingers were around his wrist. In his head, he knew that Tim wasn’t enemy, but the suddenness of his movements kicked in the mechanic reactions in Damian’s body. Not that he could fidget out of his grip. Tim was shockingly strong, his presence getting so big it made Damian feel like drowning. 

“What is this, Damian?”

“What is what, Drake?” he grumbled out, getting one of his hands around Drake’s neck, applying just a little bit of pressure to get him out of his  _ very  _ personal space.

“You… You don’t see it?”

“I  _ honestly  _ have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Tim was staring at him, eyes big as the moon, like this was the first time he had ever seen Damian. And in some sense, it really was. Damian saw, when he swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing, his eyelids fluttering, and his body was so hot on his, he could feel its heat through the many layers of their clothing. 

“It’s me. It’s my name on your wrist. My soulmark.”

“Your  _ what _ now?”

“Jesus, I was kidding about that whole one true love thing… this ain’t right.”

“Slow down, Drake…”

“I knew we can imprint our soulmates, or destined person, or call it whatever you want it,  _ I knew it,  _ but I never thought it would actually happen, I didn’t know anyone, who had it actually happen to them, this is…”

“Drake!”

“Sorry, what?”

“I don’t understand a word you say,” Damian said. Voice controlled, because Tim was obviously panicking. He moved his hand from his neck to his shoulder. “Breathe.”

“Sorry.”

It took a couple of minutes to get back to normal for Drake, but he didn’t move even then. It was terribly distracting for Damian, his body too close, his muscles too tense, but he didn’t say a word, because his body was a traitor, and enjoyed being pinned by the older way too much. 

“It’s a magic thing. Remember when I said how our real names could only be seen by family and our true love? It’s just happens so, can’t be explained and not an overly usual thing. They think it’s because the people who know your real name have power over you, so only the ones you trust can see it. And your endgame, that is. When you really meet the person you have to end up with, you imprint them. And then…” he caressed a finger over Damian’s skin, right over the veins of his wrist, and Damian felt this unreal hotness of Tim’s skin, it burnt him, like hot iron, and when the older lifted his hand, it was his name there, bright coppery red.

_ Hermes. _

“What does this mean?” Damian asked, voice husky and unsure, and Drake stood up. Deep down, he knew what it meant. But he needed it to be said out loud by Tim.

_ He needed it. _

“I don’t know. I… I have to go.”

And before Damian could’ve done anything, said anything, the older jumped the roof and vanished in the air. 

Damian still had the comm link his father wanted to give to Tim.

**Author's Note:**

> All of your comments are really and very much appreciated <3 if there are some that haven't been answered yet, I'm sorry, and I promise I will!


End file.
